Increasing Numbers

Hey All!

It has been another good week of progress here in the Kirksville 2nd ward in Missouri. Our key indicator numbers increased this week. We taught 20 lessons in all! We taught a new investigator and we found a new less-active family that wants us to teach them the lessons. The work is steadily growing here. 

This Thursday and Friday we are having an open house at our church. The church building here used to be full of 70s orange carpet and chairs. The church was entirely revamped, the parking lot extended, and new pictures were put in the hallways. This building is even going to be rededicated later this year or early next year. So we are doing an open house similar to temple open houses. Each auxiliary is in charge of a 3-5 minute presentation about what they do and how they help the progress of the church. The 1st ward elders are doing a presentation on baptism and Elder Flint and I will be answering questions at the end about the Book of Mormon with a table full of proselyting materials. They have been advertising it on radio, television, in the newspaper, by fliers, and word of mouth. The Bishop and the brother in charge of the event have sent out letters by mail to all the less-active members of the ward and to all the clergy of other churches, 70!, in Kirksville. They are expecting it to be a great success. We are hoping it will be as great as they are making it out to be and hopefully receive many new referrals and many new investigators and teaching opportunities out of this event.

The members here are awesome! There is a couple who had a baby the week after I got here. We taught them the following week. So I just wanted to brag I got to teach a lesson to a newborn baby, and shake his hand, when he was only about 5 days old. :)

There is a couple in the 1st ward with a couple of kids that are under 3. Kids come up with funny names for things. Their boy calls helicopters "flutterfly-tractors". I invite you all to use that word in the next week of your life.

I am just continuing to grow and learn more about the gospel. It is pretty cool to see how much the gospel really helps others, and especially myself. I continue to grow, and I only grow after I fail. So I am failing A LOT. But no worries. I am learning from it :)

I don't have much else to say today, other than the gospel is great and there is ALWAYS more we can learn. We won't know everything EVER. In this life at least. Carry on, read the scriptures, pray, be obedient, and learn something every day. Remember to PACE yourselves…"positive attitude changes everything" and to SMILE..."spiritually minded is life eternal."

With Love from Missouri, 

Elder Zachary R McKenzie

Iowa Des Moines Mission

    D&C 6:34, 36

Doubt Not, Fear Not.
Faith in 400 for Christ in 2012